Associated Bank sees new hires driving commercial growth
Having added new bankers and lending verticals, Associated Bank is chasing growth in its commercial bank, even as economic uncertainty lingers.
Green Bay, Wisconsin-based Associated recently hired three relationship managers for its commercial banking team in Kansas City, Missouri. All three come from super-regional U.S. Bank, where Phil Trier, the bank's head of corporate and commercial banking, spent more than two decades before he joined Associated 15 months ago.
'I knew all three of them very well from my predecessor bank, and how talented they are, and really excited about the impact that they're already making in a relatively short period of time,' Trier said.
Phil Trier, Associated Bank's head of corporate and commercial banking
Those three bankers will cover Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas for the $43 billion-asset lender. 'We're going to pause there a little bit, get the level of execution up, and then over time, I could see us growing that team, as well as looking at a more adjacent state kind of hiring strategy,' Trier said.
More broadly, the bank has hired 25 relationship managers across its core footprint in the last two years, who have come from large national, regional and community banks, he said.
'A lot of what we do is driven by talent,' he said. 'Talent is going to lead where we go and help drive those decisions.'
The Midwest lender has completed planned investments in technology and people in its corporate and commercial segment, which serves companies with revenues of $25 million or more and includes specialty businesses such as equipment finance and treasury management.
As part of his strategy, Trier also introduced a new deposit-centric vertical with a national scope, focusing on title and escrow companies, property management firms and some fintech businesses. The banker hired to lead that endeavor, Rick Bruhn, is also a U.S. Bank veteran.
Now, the bank is focused on execution, strengthening Associated's core business in the Midwest and expanding in newer markets.
That growth is fundamental to the bank's strategy: Expanding the commercial bank is geared toward diversifying the bank's balance sheet, as Associated rebalances from being more focused on lower-yielding consumer mortgages and consumer debt, to growing its commercial business and enhancing the products and services it offers those customers, Trier said. That's ultimately designed to bolster profitability.
Especially in what Trier referred to as a 'hyper-competitive market,' talent wins 'can make a material difference,' he said.
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